Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Coverage Initiated at Stifel Nicolaus

Stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.27% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded down $16.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $453.49. The company had a trading volume of 54,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $523.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $545.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $453.41 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. On average, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.